Footwear For Erg

robhen · Post by **robhen** » January 1st, 2007, 3:07 am

I am curious as to what footwear, if any, other ergers wear whilst using the C2?

I use an old pair of New Balance running shoes that are a very snug fit.

And whilst on the subject what to others prefer OTW? I have a pair of Addidas rowing shoes that Im waiting to put in my new single. In the double I have pair of crappy no name shoes. The double is a club boat.

RowtheRockies · Post by **RowtheRockies** » January 1st, 2007, 3:11 am

I wear a pair of old New Balance Racing flats. Very liitle cushion in the sole which I think is good.

Rich

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » January 1st, 2007, 12:04 pm

Barefoot.

RR1 Kirk · Post by **RR1 Kirk** » January 1st, 2007, 12:10 pm

Well worn moccassin slippers.

Happy New Year!

Kirk

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » January 1st, 2007, 1:57 pm

Barefoot when rowing strapless. Socks when rowing with straps.

MomofJBN · Post by **MomofJBN** » January 1st, 2007, 3:24 pm

RowtheRockies wrote:I wear a pair of old New Balance Racing flats. Very liitle cushion in the sole which I think is good.

Rich

Me, too. OK, they aren't New Balance, but they are a very thin soled track type shoe. They are very flexible and provide just enough protection from the strap and heel cup. Actually, I even add a little extra cushion behind my heel.

margaret · Post by **margaret** » January 4th, 2007, 1:54 am

tennies are most comfortable, and the only thing to make my foot large enough that the straps stay on

birkenstocks when I'm too lazy

sheepskin slippers when it's cold (out in the garage)

never barefoot--my feet are small enough the heel cup catches my heel & rubs it & gives blisters back there

jbell · Post by **jbell** » January 4th, 2007, 12:46 pm

Here's a good old thread on this subject:
http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4196
I just where any old running sneakers I have, but I use to where these really broken in pair of new balance, until they started to rip (probably had 1mil+ meters on them).

bw1099 · Post by **bw1099** » January 4th, 2007, 8:56 pm

Converse All Stars
(-not- high tops).

Carleneruns · Post by **Carleneruns** » January 8th, 2007, 12:06 am

I had some serious problems with blisters forming on the top of my foot over the big toe joint. So I have settled on wearing my Merrel shoes as they don't have any seams in this area. I also wear quality socks and have been putting vaseline over the rub spot. I am finally blister free and very pleased about it. Now I need to buy a new pair of Merrels though as I'm getting a nice smudge mark on the shoes from the strap. DOH!

Carlene

MomofJBN · Post by **MomofJBN** » January 8th, 2007, 3:50 pm

Carleneruns wrote:... as I'm getting a nice smudge mark on the shoes from the strap. DOH!

Me, too! At first I couldn't figure out how the shoes were getting dirty because I only wear them on the erg.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » January 8th, 2007, 4:54 pm

MomofJBN wrote:
Carleneruns wrote:... as I'm getting a nice smudge mark on the shoes from the strap. DOH!
Me, too! At first I couldn't figure out how the shoes were getting dirty because I only wear them on the erg. :lol:

Quit using the straps!

Bob S.

Tom Barrick · Post by **Tom Barrick** » January 9th, 2007, 7:16 am

Bob S. wrote:
MomofJBN wrote:
Carleneruns wrote:... as I'm getting a nice smudge mark on the shoes from the strap. DOH!
Me, too! At first I couldn't figure out how the shoes were getting dirty because I only wear them on the erg.
Quit using the straps!

Bob S.

Heh. If my coach said that 20 seconds before a race I'd probably laugh and then do it. At the same time, some of us aren't OTW and this is it. I love OTW but haven't done it in years. I like the feel of my feet being "in there."

All of that being said, I like the crocs(those holey shoes) embedded in my straps. It's loose and tight enough at the same time, if that makes any sense. Just make certain to wear socks with them. Also, this is only for longer pieces, well over 10K. For anything shorter and for comp pieces, I use the watersocks, with a higher heel and brand new C2 straps. The older ones just don't hang on after awhile.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » January 9th, 2007, 12:05 pm

Tom Barrick wrote:
Quit using the straps!
Bob S.
Heh. If my coach said that 20 seconds before a race I'd probably laugh and then do it. At the same time, some of us aren't OTW and this is it. I love OTW but haven't done it in years. I like the feel of my feet being "in there."

My remark seems facetious and I would not really suggest it for racing, but for rates of less than 30spm, I definitely recommend it. I had read about going strapless for a long time on this forum. It has been several months now since I first tried it rather reluctantly, but I was sold after the first few tries and have never gone back. The only catch is that I sometimes forget to strap in when I intend to do a little sprinting. I did that yesterday for a set of 4x1k intervals. I felt that I had to sort of hold back on the first one until I had the first rest and could strap in properly. As it turned out, that interval was at a pace about a second slower than the others, but my average rate on each of the four was under 30. I think that, with a little more practice. I could learn to row strapless at high rates as well.

If straps are messing up the shoes, leaving them off for the long time consuming pieces might prolong the life of the shoes. The much shorter time that most people spend in sprinting wouldn't take that much out of them.

There are better reasons for erging strapless, but this topic struck me as just one more advantage to the practice.

Bob S.

TabbRows · Post by **TabbRows** » January 9th, 2007, 4:58 pm

At home on the Model B, I have an old pair of Vans slip-ons that stay in the strays. I strapless row warmups and cooldowns in my socking feet on top of the shoes. At the club, I wear Asics Kiyanos running shoes because I do other activities. Asics has been my feet's shoe maker of choice for 25 years. But I sometimes wish I still had my old pair of Addias racewalking flats. They were a lot like track shoes and would have been great as erg shoes! Alas they're somewhere in a landfill 3000 miles away.